Trapped in a Golden Bedlam
by desalina90
Summary: Katara, after being cursed by a mysterious woman, is mistakenly taken along with the Fire Nation Prince and his crew to catch the Avatar. No one knows who she is, and she can't escape. I suppose death could always break the spell. zutara
1. Chapter 1

"Why are you always doing this!" Katara shouted, handfuls of her pants gripped tightly in her fists. If the cloth wasn't there as a buffer, her nails would already be deep within her palms, such was the force with which she carried her voice.

"Doing what?" Toph hissed back, her brows knitted deeply.

"Starting fights! Being confrontational all the damn time!"

"I am _not_ being confrontational, you wanted a conversation and I gave you one, it's not _my_ fault you're so touchy." The fog swirling in Toph's unseeing eyes sparked and flashed with wrathful lightning.

"I am not touchy, you just have no tact." The argument-shouting match- had gone on like this for a considerable amount of time, with both of the girls retorting as loudly as they found possible, and still somehow managing to beat the other when their turn came around. By now no one could remember the true reason of their hostility towards each other, but perhaps the fact that they had been suspended in the air for a few days on a growling, stinking bison with a secret destination known only to their driver might contribute to their antagonistic feelings somewhat. As for Toph, she was always on edge whenever the comforting vibrations of her element were severed from her senses, so it was very possible that the blame should have come to settle atop the master earthbender's shoulders.

During the first ten minutes of the feud, a flustered airbending monk rushed between the two of them, trying to provide the something that could successfully dampen the flames on their tongues, but to no avail. The most progress he had attained was a "Bud out, Twinkle Toes!" from his earthbending teacher, which Katara retaliated with: "See, this is what I'm talking about. Aang is just trying to help, and here you are attacking him!" Other than that, the pacifist simply haunted the brawl. He was getting nervous as their escalating shrieks were captured and scattered by the wind. The logical side of the monk knew that it would be impossible for the Fire Nation to pick up on their words, but still… what if they could?

"Aang, just give up, they've been at it for probably an hour now. Avatar or not, I doubt you could stop that catfight," Sokka lounged in a niche in the saddle, peeling an apple with his characteristic boomerang. Even his azure eyes had relinquished any sardonic glint after the first few days out there. The most surprising change in the company, however, was in the mischievous Momo, who was currently draped over Sokka's knees, a glazed look in his eyes and a slack jaw. Deflated, the monk floated into place on the crook of Appa's neck, slipping the leather reins into his lap. But he was nearly knocked from his perch as the bison yawned a musty greeting towards him. The Avatar flattened himself deep into his friend's pallid fur, attempting to block out the din behind him, because the whistling wind in their ears apparently wasn't up to such a task.

Aang's eyes closed tightly. He lay spread-eagled on the bison's neck, fist-sized bunches of fur in his ears, and still the noise invaded his mind. Irritation contorted his face, and Appa let loose a guttural growl when he clamped onto even more fur, in the process pinching the bison's neck. His face calmed, and he sat back up. "Sorry, boy," he apologized wearily. At this time Katara and Toph were both ranting about workload or something of the sort, their faces both rouge. Aang spun around once more to behold the girls. His mouth drooped into a crooked frown, and he twirled the air into a sphere that could rest in his hands. Holding it close to his lips, as if he were going to drink it in, Aang muttered "maybe I should just bend all the air from their lungs, that way they'd stop fighting", and flicked it into Sokka's ears.

A ghost of a smile flitted across the water warrior's face, but he shook his head vigorously, and drew his thumb across his throat. Then he mouthed the words "she'd kill us", and stared pointedly at his younger sister. A deep sigh squeaked between Aang's tightly pressed lips, and he crawled on all floors to the top of Appa's head. A cobalt river snaked about below them, flanked by a pulsating forest, as if attempting to beat the flight of the bison. Aang's gaze meandered across the rushing landscape, until he met the horizon, where a string of mountains seemed to explode from the forest and pierce the clear sky.

For the first time in what seemed an eternity, a smile alit on the monk's face, and he whirled around to his companions. "Hey, guys," he called out, but he might as well have not, for all the attention he was receiving. "Guys!" The girls were a foot from each other, figurative lightning shooting from their mouths. Aang scratched the arrow on his scalp, and then drew in as much air as he could, arching his back in the process. Then he rebounded back into a sitting position as he yelled "SOKKA, KATARA, TOPH!"

Momo squawked as he was tossed from Sokka's knees. The lemur then launched himself onto Sokka's pony-tail, chattering in anger as he dragged knots through the boy's hair. "Gah! Momo!" the water warrior shrilled as he slapped at the lemur, and even began to rub his head against the saddle. Katara and Toph, both with slitted eyes of rage and deep frowns, snapped their mouths shut and turned to Aang.

Before they could reprimand him for his intrusion, the Avatar hastily announced: "Behold, Earth Kingdom City of Midori." Aang moved forward with a satisfied flourish into the presence of his comrades, who mostly looked upon the forest with indifference. As was to be expected, Toph, the only one native to the Earth Kingdom, took the news most enthusiastically, and crawled to her knees. "Aang," she said, abandoning his nickname in excitement, "Quick, your arm, let me see." No one commented on her statement, as one confrontation had just ceased, but instead Aang grasped Toph's hand within his. Both water tribe siblings noted the blush that crept along the Avatar's cheekbones as their fingers brushed. Sokka donned a devilish smirk, but Katara's frown thickened and her face dropped.

As Aang led Toph to the edge and eventually had to wrap an arm around her shoulders to prevent her from falling, Katara rested her head on the edge of the saddle. Her heart was pounding softly within her rib cage, but the area around it felt sore. Aang's description of what he saw settled into Katara's ears, and she would have had to be stupid not to notice the gentle affection that softened each sentence. She massaged the area over her heart and tried to think of other things. Both Aang and Sokka had decided long before then that the cause for all of Katara and Toph's arguments was their contrasting personalities, but Katara knew the truth.

Ever since Toph had joined their troupe and brought Aang under her tutelege, the monk found more reason to flutter around his teacher, hiding under the guise of a devoted pupil. This meant that his and Katara's bending skirmishes dwindled in numbers. The monk even stopped bouncing up to the waterbender randomly to demonstrate a new trick or challenge her to a game. That shy smile that had previously passed between the pair, their secret glances, had all shifted from Katara and Aang to Aang and Toph.

At the beginning, Katara had simply let her hope of being with the Avatar die. She had watched them grow closer, and whenever they would come into camp from training, their footsteps in unison and their bodies close, Katara would provide them with her well-practiced smile, beneath which moved numbed limbs and a limp heart. But soon she found that this reserve only held up in the midst of the offending pair. When she was alone with Sokka, her brother, the family that will always and has always been there, she would grow depressed, moody, and snapped at him randomly. Sokka approached her about this one time, hurt laced in his irises, and Katara decided then to switch tactics.

But her new idea was just as bad, if not worse, than the former. Actually, it was devious, backwards, and shameful. Throughout any words she or anyone shared with Toph, Katara would go out of her way to listen for something that sounded remotely detestable, and would blow the situation up. _Perhaps_, she thought lamely, almost too far gone for any hope left, _I can make Toph sound so horrible that Aang will come back to me._ In reality, her plan had no effect on Aang's infatuation. The only result was that the new combative layer of Katara's personality grew on everyone else's nerves. But she was too far in it now to quit, let alone realize this...

It had taken Appa another half hour before they were close enough to land, and even then they stopped a mile out so as to not arouse suspicions. Throughout that time, Katara sat in bitter silence, her chestnut braid dangling over her shoulder and the end between her teeth.

The trek towards Midori held astonishing sights, at least they would have, were Katara's gaze not blinded with jealousy. She ignored the towering trees, the lush foliage and vegetation, the crystal brooks, and orchestra of birdcalls and cackling. Her stare was fixed to her boots, watching her feet move, but not feeling the motion at all. In the background, she could faintly hear Sokka complaining while he slashed away at groping branches. Aang tried to speak to Katara once, pointing out a flamboyantly colored bird that was hopping from branch to branch, but Katara made no move to speak, let alone lift her head. If she did, she would probably see Aang holding Toph's hand. Could she handle that?

"Katara?" Aang's voice came once again into her reality. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she said, "Just a headache." At this she lapsed back into silence, unaware of the worried look that passed between her brother and the monk. Neither did she realize that Toph was not attached to Aang, but about twenty paces in front of everyone, humming softly to herself and barreling through branches and leaves and tangled grasses. All that seemed to exist in the silent world around Katara were her phantom feet trudging ever forward, and the muffled beating of her heart in her throat.

Toph's voice broke the uncomfortable silence. "You guys, we're here."

"But how do you…." The brilliant Sokka began before Aang clamped a hand down on his mouth. Toph twisted her head a bit in the direction of Sokka, then stomped on the ground once. A roll of earth slid under the water warrior's footing, successfully knocking him on his butt.

"Ow!" Sokka moaned. "What'd you do that for?"

"For being stupid." The warrior scrambled to his feet; both him and Aang were surprised, and therefore grateful, to find that Katara hadn't even lifted her eyes. Regardless, Sokka pouted until they reached the front wall of Midori.

The sandstone wall was taller than any trees the traveling group had seen, and the forest itself stopped many yards before the gates began. This was to mainly protect against intruders, but it seemed that the area had remained untouched by the Fire Nation and any other threat, and so thick blankets of ivy had crept up to nearly the top. The awesome sight caught even Katara's attention. As they came closer, Toph spoke up again.

"Those markings along the wall are protective runes and spells to keep enemies at bay."

"But how do they know who are enemies?" Sokka, too impressed by the foundation itself to stupidly make a "blind girl" comment, brushed a hand along the symbols.

"Dunno," Toph answered truthfully. "They say a witch lives somewhere in the village or the surrounding forest. A while back she had made a deal with the village's lord, saying that if they would provide her with food and other necessities, she would give them protection."

"Well then, how do we get in if there are no guards or anything to tell the wall that we're not enemies?"

Instead of an answer, Toph approached the wall and swept her hand over the engravings. Most of them were gibberish to her, but some words she understood, though that mattered little since that was about one in every ten words. The water tribe kids and the Avatar settled into the shade after about thirteen minutes of this process. Sweat started glistening under the earthbender's hat, slinking down to rest in her eyebrows. Finally her hand brushed over something odd.

It was a group of symbols that were neither conventional gibberish nor actual words. The first one was shaped like an arch, the second was awkwardly shaped like a four, and the third was yet another arch, but the right side of it was bent slightly. All three had two dash marks above them in various positions, with the last having one dashmark out far. Recognition alit on her face, but she continued to run her seeing fingertips along the coarse surface until she reached another interesting spot. It held some sort of prayer for protection, but that wasn't the reason her hands stopped their search.

Only an earthbender would be able to decipher this last clue. Toph noticed that her fingertips felt hollow when she touched the sandstone at that curious area. If she moved her hand more to either direction, then she would feel normal again, but if she kept going in the direction, she would reach another hollow feeling. Her breathing hitched, she followed the hollow feeling until it created an imaginary circle. Somewhere in her head the two bits of information she gathered clicked.

"I got it," she said, more to herself than anyone else, though her companions sat up immediately.

"What is it?" Aang asked, his monk robes clinging to his skin with sweat. He rushed to Toph's side, and darted his eyes about the runes, trying to figure it out as well.

"Back up, Twinkle Toes." Before Toph could shove him aside, Aang leapt into the air, wind propelling his feet, and landed a foot or two to the side. The water tribe children hesitantly came to be beside the monk, though Sokka had to nearly slap his dazed sister awake. Backing up a few steps, Toph shuffled her feet apart to achieve a wide stance, her arms locked under her ribs. Following the second symbol, she lifted her right leg until her foot was parallel to her left knee, and then stomped down into the third rune, thrusting her right fist directly into the wall with all her might.

Both Sokka and Aang gasped when they beheld Toph's hand to have made not a centimeter of head way, and Aang in particular sucked in a sharp intake of breath when he saw that blood was trickling down the wall. However, this only lasted a moment, and then Toph's hand shot into the sandstone, almost with as much ease as if it were liquid. She felt her fingers meet a metal ring, which she grabbed onto and jerked roughly to the side. This being completed, the earthbender withdrew her hand and danced backward hastily as a section of wall as tall as two Sokkas collapsed in a heap of sand.

"See?" Toph turned to the Avatar, her mouth lingering somewhere between a grin and a grimace as she cradled a scraped and bleeding fist. "What would you guys do without me?" This last one was directed towards Katara, whom ignored her.

**gah, sorry if this chapter sucked at all. i didn't want to mention it earlier but this is actually my first fanfic ever '' i'm prolly gonna continue this story regardless of reviews ((unless they're all flames that say "YOU SUCK!")), but i will love eternally whoever reviews for me. i return reviews, by the by **

**thanx for actually giving me a chance ((unless u read the first line and were like "pffft, screw that")). i promise there's gonna be some zutara later on, but for now i'm setting the stage.**

**much love,**

**arisu's smile**


	2. Chapter 2

**((head rests against keyboard)) omigod, I dunno why, but I don't like this chapter so much... I mean, I did edit it three plus times, so it's better than the first draft… bleh, I think I'm just DYING TO GET TO MY ZUTARA MOMENTS! (damnit, janet!) but, regardless, here ya go, the next chappie (be gentle…)**

**o god! Almost forgot: Disclaimer: input something witty along the lines of me being destitute that won't get my butt sued by the owners of A:TLA**

By the time Katara recovered her senses and shame, the group was far into the second layer of defenses in the fantastical wall, which was a labyrinth. The confines were close and musty, with air that seemed to have been bereft of circulation for quite some time. As the waterbender blindly felt along for her bearings, she realized that she was conjoined by hand to another. A foolish desire zipped through her mind. _Aang?_ But when she felt the weather-beaten skin and numerous calluses she knew it to be her brother.

…But if she was clasping hands with her brother, then that would mean that…. _Aang is holding onto Toph's hand_. Her heart gave a painful start at this revelation, but she decided this time not to submit to her envy. Instead, she opened her mouth, and gulped down the muggiest, thickest breath of air that she had ever experienced, sending her into a coughing fit.

"Katara," came Sokka's concerned voice as his grip tightened somewhat. "You alright?"

"Yeah," the waterbender wheezed out, beating around at the musty air in the darkness. "Just this stale air. Went down the wrong tube." They all then slid into an awkward quiet, each taking more careful notice of the constricting atmosphere.

"It _is_ pretty bad," said Toph suddenly. Katara found an unbidden scowl flit along her features at her voice. Before she could stop herself, the words "_Good, choke on it then"_ became etched into the black around her, dripping with venom. Then karma got its revenge when she stubbed her toe on a rock.

"You okay?" the water tribe warrior inquired upon having his arm nearly jerked out of his socket ((lol, Sokka, socket….i'll shut up now)) by a hopping and cursing sister.

"Stupid rocks," Katara growled. The team moved onward then, and Katara couldn't help but wonder if Toph had set that up for her….

Everyone eventually lost track of how long they were in the maze, or even the number of turns they had crossed, but never once did they run head first into a slab of sandstone, thanks to Toph's directional skills; somehow the arabesque of rock informed the earthbender of the right turns to take. Sokka exclaimed once about how he couldn't see his hand in front of him, which Toph retorted with "that must be awful for you". After about an hour or so (again, no one really could tell), everyone but Toph would wince in response to each step taken; their shoes were rubbing the skin on their feet raw.

Sokka and Katara kept themselves awake by conducting silent thumb wars. Much to Sokka's chagrin, his sister bested him nearly every time, and with each loss he would sigh loudly in exasperation. Aang always answered this defeated sound with "Don't worry, Sokka, I'm sure we're almost there, right, Toph?" And at this the earthbender merely grumbled "left, left, right, straight…".

After the waterbender's fifty-sixth win, and her sexist brother's newest snarl of irritation, the line of travelers all bumped and collided into one another, and fell prostrated into the cruel ground.

"Damnit, Toph!" Sokka screeched.

"It wasn't me," she snapped. "I told Twinkle Toes there that I was stopping! It's not my fault he can't dig his heels in."

"Hey, she's right," the monk began softly, or at least too softly for the present volume, "it's my fau- -"

"Why do you have to bring Aang into this?" Katara said. "He probably just couldn't hear you."

"He could definitely hear me," the Earth Kingdom girl spat back. "He was maybe a foot from me."

The Avatar, at this time ignoring the argument, sniffed at the air. A fresh breeze played through his entire body, rejuvenating the airbender, and he then began to sprint towards the smell, laughter trailing behind him.

"Aang?" Sokka called. "Where are you going?"

"To the exit," Toph stated in the middle of threatening Katara. "That was why I stopped: to tell you guys that we're at the end." Both of the water children then scrambled feverishly to their feet, and ran pell mell after their friend. "Wait!" Toph shouted after them. Walking as slow as she pleased, she opened her mouth again. "Be careful! It's very---" Shouts of agony reached the blind earthbender's ears, and she sighed. "…bright outside."

The monk and the two water tribe children writhed against the brilliance, with Sokka writhing on the ground, Katara streaming back into the darkness, and Aang swaggering backwards, his forearms thrown over his eyes. Once in the now gentle warmth of the sun, Toph filled her lungs and released the carbon dioxide in a steady stream. "Ah, fresh air," she grinned and stepped over Sokka's suddenly limp form. Both Katara and Aang had become adjusted to the drastic change by now. As quickly as their eyes could handle, the two let their gazes travel over Sokka, who groaned in the dirt, to Toph's feet, to the ground beyond, and then to the village before them.

In one unified and splendid drop of their jaws, the air and waterbenders gaped at what met their senses.

"Wow," the Avatar whispered, as if his words could break the image before him.

"Yeah," Katara whispered back, just as fearful.

Before them stretched a golden village, literally. Houses rose, apartment style, for three stories, each embellished with scenes in gold and painted glass, and linked by thin staircases. A carpet of rich green, peppered with splashes of different colored flowers, poured from the sides of each establishment and over the terrain, stopping just short of the group's feet. Distantly, they could make out a towering water fountain, which was a giant statue of a woman, her arms outstretched and crystal water rivulets twisting in the air before dropping into a glittering basin. Her dress flared out from under her bosom; the entire piece was a three-dimensional mosaic masterpiece.

As the travelers ogled at the sight (even Toph could sense its splendor), citizens began to wander towards them, slipping from doorways and abandoning tasks. Though the elders and adults shuffled forward hesitantly, the children rushed the visitors, singing and skipping. Sokka stumbled to his feet, still squinting, and some of the tribe children pointed at his contorted face, mimicking him and laughing. The warrior huffed and began to finger his metal boomerang absently, not with an intent to be threatening, but still this simple expression of annoyance sent a ripple of dissent through the swelling crowd. Instantly the water boy sheathed his weapon, and the crowd lapsed into their murmurings.

"Hi, uh," began Aang, whom had his innocent smile plastered from ear to ear. "I'm Aang. This is Katara, Sokka, and Toph." He gestured to each in turn, and then looked onto the rumbling crowd and rowdy band of youth, as if his simple introduction was enough. "Um…." He began again, scratching his ear, "we've been traveling for some time, and have run out of supplies…." Toph pushed him aside.

"I'm Toph Bei Fong of Gaoling, and this is Avatar Aang of the Southern Air Temple. We have been on a long journey and have decided to stop here. We implore your city to host us for a night or two." Throughout this, the earthbender rocked from heel to toe, arms locked behind her back, almost as if she had this statement memorized for such purposes. Katara looked to her brother, who shrugged. Apparently they were of too little consequence to mention.

The crowd was inflamed with words. The children, who had frozen in palpable curiosity when they heard the term "Avatar", all seemed to leap onto Aang in one smooth motion. Some wanted to rub his arrows to see if they were painted on or not, and some requested that he propel them into the air with his Avatar skills. A man bound from the center of the crowd, and landed straight on his face. With what dignity he could salvage, he rose gently to his feet, brushed the dirt off of his emerald robes, and strode forward towards the Avatar.

Katara watched her brother in her peripherals as he cocked his head to the side and analyzed the man. But in this instance she didn't feel compelled to berate him, but rather gawk at him herself. He was unorthodox looking, to say the least: he had thin, wiry limbs, a sallow sheen to his complexion, and folds over folds of wrinkles. So severely hunched was his back that the sleeves of his robes would snag frequently under his feet as he struggled his way forward. As for his face… well, possibly the best description of his visage is that at one point someone heisted the head of a dusty old tomcat and settled it loosely atop this man's shoulders.

"Avatar Aang," he croaked out, sounding as if the words were working through a layer of dirt, "I am Bai Ping, mayor of Midori, and we are so pleased to have you grace our humble village." The waterbender knew that her brother's eyebrows must have quirked at the term "humble"; this city could just possibly swallow their own little tribe. "We would absolutely love to house and supply you for however long you need." With this Bai Ping bowed as far as his back would allow him, which was, in Katara's mind, a challenging feat from the get-go.

"Thank you so much, sir," Aang attempted to return the gesture, despite the mass of children clinging to each of his limbs. "It would mean a lot to us."

"Oh, you all, shoo, shoo," the mayor waved off the young Midorians genially, "or else our Avatar Aang will be flattened, and what good will that do him?"

"It will make him more aerodynamic!" called out one of the swarm. The rest of Aang's body ornaments began to quake in laughter.

"Back to your parents, all of you." Bai Ping ordered, planting his tiny fists on his hips. At this, a score of giggling, chattering kids scampered away from the newcomers and were instantly absorbed by the crowd. "Now, Avatar Aang, Miss Bei Fong, and…."

"Katara," the water bender said.

"And Sokka," the warrior added.

"Ah yes, good, good," Bai Ping wrung his hands and simpered, "Now, please know that you may ask anything of me in your stay, anything at all, and this village will gladly supply it to our, no, the **world's**, heroes." Sokka's chest visibly puffed at the words, and Aang's puerile face alit.

"Well, Mr. Mayor," the monk said, "we do have one thing to request of you."

"Already? Bah, whatever it is, it is fine."

"Well, you see, we had to leave two of our friends behind outside the walls, and we were wondering if you wouldn't mind them coming in."

"Who are we to turn away a friend of the Avatar's?"

"Heh," Aang donned a breezy grin, "Well, you see, one of them is my giant flying bison, Appa, and the other is Momo, our lemur."

Bai Ping stood in meditative thought for a moment, casting a glance behind him into his village. "Of course. There is room."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

While the Avatar and a few Midorians ventured out to guide the bison and lemur into the town, and subsequently find a housing area for them ("There is no room!" anguished one groom out of Aang's earshot), Toph, Katara, and Sokka were led to an indescribably elaborate apartment building. They were shown up to their own separate compartments (Katara gave a wry smile when she came to notice that Toph and Aang would be in rooms next to each other, while her and Sokka would stay a level down), during which Bai Ping explained some bits about their village.

Throughout the tale, Katara began to drift in and out of consciousness, but she was able to catch the gist of it. Basically, the Earth Kingdom town of Midori was siphoned off into a city-state from the rest of the Earth Kingdom for geographical reasons. From there he explained how one of the former Avatars, the earthbender Midori, for whom the city was named, had fortified the town and made it prosperous. It was in her image that the magnificent fountain was crafted.

"But sir," Katara said, during one of her attentive moments, "is it true that your city's impressive wall was given to you by a witch?" For some reason, her own question made a surge of adrenalin pump through her veins.

"Oh yes, you've heard the story, everyone has. I suppose the rest of the world must thirst for such romances during such times as these. Ah, but yes, a hermit woman stumbled upon our city some years back. We eventually came to an agreement that our citizens would send food up to her cottage every month, along with other such effects, and in return she built us our wall and maze." He stopped at this and gained an enigmatic glint to his eye. "Strange woman. No one ever got a good look at her, and she somehow built the wall when we weren't looking. Strange woman….

"But no matter, you all have arrived on the eve of a very special day!" The mayor stopped in front of the group, whirling about to face them. "Tomorrow evening is to be the Festival of Carnations!" He threw his arms out wide in bravado, and watched his guests expectantly, waiting for their shrieks of joy. But the response never came, and instead the siblings smiled politely, their eyes clogged with questions.

Just as Katara was about to ask about the festival, Sokka suddenly hurdled sideways into his sister, onto her foot no less. "Ow," Katara hissed, glaring daggers at her brother, "What was that for!"

"D-d-demons," Sokka's face blanched, and he pointed at Toph. The waterbender herself felt an encroaching sense of doom then: the normally caustic little girl was…was… _blushing!_ Yes! She was shifting from foot to foot, her misty eyes roughly assuming a dreamy glint, and the ends of her lips crooked upwards in what Katara could only assume to be a smile.

This phenomenon destroyed all the words gathering on Katara's tongue, and so she scrambled to retrieve them. "Um, Mr. Bai Ping," she began after several attempts, still eyeing Toph warily, "What exactly is the Festival of Carnations?"

"By terra! You haven't heard of the Festival of Carnations, and yet you know the story of the _wallflower witch_?" Bai Ping slapped his hand to his forehead.

"No sir," Katara continued, "Actually, Toph was the one who told us the story of the… wallflower witch."

"Well then this **is** a glorious day indeed! The Festival of Carnations is a festival of truth and love. It recognizes Avatar Midori's founding of this village, and planting the first bed of carnations. On this night, vendors will be selling different colored carnations. You can buy the color flower of your choosing, each with its own purpose: the light red ones represent admiration and hope for love, the dark red for deep love and affection—oh, you get the idea! But either way you buy the flower that symbolizes whatever you're aiming for, and present it to a loved one, or a crush, or whatever.

"And for those without such circumstances, our most skilled gardeners have concocted a special batch of flowers. They are a soft yellow, and represent friendship or family," the decrepit man did a brief dance of enthusiasm then. "It truly is the highlight of our year. Ah, but you all must be eager for sleep, and food, and I will not spoil your slumber with excitement. Go, sleep, eat, our women will awake you in the morning." At this, Bai Ping scuttled past the trio and down the staircase. Toph, still visibly bouncy, wished them both a good night as she raced to her own staircase, taking the steps two at a time.

By the time Katara was able to drag herself out of her clothes and pile them neatly with her waterskin and other things, she noticed the sun to be lounging in her window frame, playing through the silk curtains hypnotically. Her stomach gave a cavernous bellow, and she remembered that they had yet to have dinner. _I wonder how Sokka's doing_, she mused, and then was convinced that she could hear his stomach through the walls. Grinning to herself, she climbed onto her impossibly soft bed, embroidered with flowers and mountains (obviously in a flaxen thread) and collapsed before she even reached the pillows. As her eyelids closed over themselves, she caught sight of a platter piled high with breads, cheeses, and fruits.

_Maybe I should eat something_, she considered weakly, before slamming out of consciousness. The trip to this village had been trying for her, mentally, physically, and emotionally. Needless to say, she welcomed this opportunity.

Dusk slowly washed over the land, filtering through the windowsill and bathing the earthbender in a coral glow. Meanwhile, sounds of a vicious gorging drifted through the walls from Sokka's room.

**Yah, so there it was. I hope at least some of you made it to the end. I promise more zutara moments to come.**

**PLEASE REVIEW! **


	3. Chapter 3

**'ello, 'ello here's the next chappie. It's longer (heh…heh…I wish your attention spans the best of luck), and sorry it took so long, but things have been hectic over here.**

**Anyway, I wanted to give a short thanks to all of my super awesome reviewers: herk444, Schwanengesang, Zuzu Fangirl, whennerdscollide, Elenea Galad, Juicyy, Luna-Chan-Kuroi Neko, avatarlovah9573, Jimmy the Gothic Egg, and wickedsugarrush.**

**So, enjoy my chapter and please review! **

**OH! I almost forgot the disclaimer AGAIN! Man, I really must want to own Avatar…**

**Disclaimer: I wouldn't even dream of laying claim on the Avatar series.**

"_Run! Faster, faster. Get away." Tan feet slapped against the crystalline floor, ripples erupting with each contact. "Don't let them near, don't let them touch you." Above the translucent floor reared an imposing nothingness, as mercurial as oil, swelling, receding, swirling, snaking. "They're close! Move quickly!"_

_A curtain of chocolate hair waterfalled behind the scrambling figure, snapping at the darkness around, clawing at the opalescence below. "Go!" Her limbs worked furiously, legs pounding the ground into oblivion, fists abusing the void about her. The drops of lapis lazuli that were her eyes darted this way and that. When they came to rest upon the floor beneath her, the voice resonated against her skull. "No! Look forward, never down, they're coming, coming."_

_Those nettled words alit a fury in her feet. The girl streamlined her body in an attempt to delay the inevitable, the enigmatic unavoidable on her heels. "Good, good," the silence whispered in her ears, "Fast. Keep going. Almost there." But despite the added fervor with which she sprinted forward, "they" found her. It began with a glint of gold in her peripherals, her discovery of these assailants._

_She chanced a look down, contrary to the words raging in her mind of "No! No! Don't look, never see, not there." Beside the girl, stretching to the undefined horizon and then some, rolled millions of honey spheres, drawn into columns, simply moving towards their own destination, flowing with her and yet omitting her._

"_What are you doing?" the silence screeched. "There! Run, now, fast, run."_

_But why?_

"_Don't question, RUN!" The orbs kept gliding forward, obstinate in their determination, still ignoring her existence. Soon she fell in stride with them, the anxious voice in her head momentarily soothed. It was for some time that the multitude of entities traveled like this, and during the start of the parade the girl simply complied. Her verbal companion kept up an urgent mantra all the while as it perched upon her shoulders: "Move, run. You have to keep up. You have to get there."_

_Get where?_

_A complex murmuring drifted down from the ominous sky. It seemed to be composed of many layers of lilting sounds, and as the tempos dripped against the cloudless ground, the girl noticed that specks of flames sprouted from each collision. Fear began its decent unto the girl's shoulders and spine, pinching her skin with an icy touch. The sounds continued to shower upon the procession below, and fire graffitied the terrain. _

_Finally it seemed to the girl that their group was making some headway, for the horizon, flat and solid as a wall, began to advance towards them, hoping to meet them halfway. "Move, run. You have to keep up. You have to get there."_

_It was close, so much so that the girl began to wonder what would happen once these queues were to reach the barrier. Within her next breath this query was answered dutifully as the wall crumbled suddenly, starting at the corners and eating inward. With this action, a being was gradually exposed._

_It loomed over the rest of this twisted realm, silver shavings blanketing teal, leathery skin that was pinched in at the corners, and blank white eyes that stared unceasingly out at the pinpricks of fire. Its lips were pressed thinly across its muzzle. "Get there. Get there. Get here." The voice slid then into the icy depths of nothingness, and the girl felt horribly lonely, despite the intense activity occurring around her._

_They were perhaps a few meters away now. The countenance spanned from the ground to the bloated gloom above, and the girl could only imagine that its blind eyes continued its fruitless scrutiny._

_What now?_

_To this question, the image responded by loosening its jaw and letting it come to rest on the mirrored grounds, directly in their path of travel. Should she continue her dash, all that the girl had to look forward to was a long, dank slide down a trachea. Not completely enthusiastic about the latter, she dug her heels in and halted. But this didn't last long, for the spinning globules were intent on finishing their trek, and so the girl was knocked off her feet. Unfortunately, the spheres held her aloft, making her partake in the common end._

_A thick darkness enveloped the girl as she was hoisted into the figure's mouth. She tore her lips apart, and poured whatever air her body contained into what she hoped would be an agonizing shriek, but the only noise filling her ears was that of a great exhalation of breath. _

_Her heart began to clatter, shatter against her ribs, and she thrashed against the grip that the curious travelers had on her. Throwing her head back, she watched in dismay as the alabaster fangs began to close unto themselves, fixed into the nooks between each other._

_Darkness. _

_- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -_

A menacing growl rumbled through the water bender's bedroom, resonating against the lemon walls with choleric passion. Katara lurched upright at the sound, her hair plait whipping forward over her shoulder, only to rebound and smack her smartly against the face. But this barely bothered the water girl, whose head snapped about feverishly. She chewed on her bottom lip and held the bed's blanket like a lifeline; she desperately wished that she had her waterskin right there on the bed with her.

Where was it? The beast, the one who ate her.

Her chest rose and fell sharply and sporadically. Still her mind had not calmed, she had not been released far enough from the clutches of her nightmare to put things into perspective.

_Ok, calm down Katara_. She forced her eyelids to shut tightly, and focused on her panicking diaphragm. Presently, she was allowed to regulate her breathing and ease the torrents of blood being pushed through her body. _Now, open your eyes, and look around_. Obeying her own inner voice, Katara unleashed her dazzling eyes, and took in the room. A deep sigh erupted from her lips, the lower lip now slightly puffed from biting onto it.

_See? Nothing's there. It was just a dream_.

The waterbender then swung her legs over the side of the bed, and gingerly lowered her feet to the hardwood floors. Letting her soles rest against the surface for a moment, the chill from the floor seeping through her skin, she gave her heart a few more seconds to rest serenely, while her mind started to work itself up into a frenzy.

_What type of a nightmare was that? I've never even had a normal dream, so why this all of a sudden? _No aspect of the situation made any genuine sense, but then again it didn't really provide sufficient cause for alarm either.

Another snarl broke the tranquility of dawn. With a shrill, Katara bounded up off of the bed and was by her dresser, leather canteen in hand. She parted her legs and crouched down low, one palm hovering over the cork. Glaring around at all sides of the room, she searched for that demon.

_Where are you…?_

A third groan issued, but this one sounded a bit more muffled… and near-at-hand. With a vacant expression settling onto her features, Katara tucked her chin into her collarbones, and stared intently at her stomach. She was met by the offending noise, and a mortified blush claimed her entire face.

_See, Katara?_ The waterbender coughed slightly at this, immensely grateful that no one was present to witness her actions. _You're just hungry. Now…now eat something, and get on with your day. _But still she held her waterskin with a vice grip as she made her way over to the food platter. It was as she left it the night before: brimming with food goods. Her stomach rumbled greedily at her, and with her unoccupied hand she grabbed a loaf of rye bread and crammed as much as was possible into her mouth.

This continued on for the better of ten minutes, and was stopped only by an anxious set of raps on her door. She gave a start at the sound, but wrenched the door open anyway. A pie-faced woman, clouds of chestnut hair wafting down her back, was produced then. A pleasant smile painted her lips, and her hands were folded neatly over her stomach. But Katara hardly noticed the visitor herself; she gaped shamelessly at the woman's dress.

It was nearly a duplicate of the one on the fountain statue of Avatar Midori, at least in construction: four thin straps (two for each side) fastening over the shoulders, a bodice that spans only until under the breasts, and then yards of fabric flowing from here to just below her knees. However, the hue of the garment was what struck the waterbender so dramatically. As a breeze rippled through the material, Katara gazed on in awe as the colors transitioned from lilac, to azure, to rose seamlessly. Her eyes never left the marvel, and the pie-faced woman, awkward with this attention, attempted to bring the girl's focus to the words she came to say.

"Um, Miss Katara?"

The waterbender blinked and tore herself away from the dress. "S-sorry, ma'am," she said with a sheepish grin.

"No, no, it's quite alright," the pie-faced woman shook her head casually, and did a little spin for the water tribe girl. Air caught up under the cloth, and picked it up into the shape of an overturned bowl. Again the colors transmuted to others, and Katara's jaw dropped splendidly.

"…Gorgeous…" Katara breathed, in about the same tone as when she first laid eyes on the city.

"You think so?" The response to her question was in the form of a fervent nodding of the water girl's head. Pie (as Katara would later refer to the woman, for she never was able to string enough words together at that moment to request her name) grinned, "That's good. Otherwise you would need a new festival gown."

An amiable silence passed as the phrase processed in Katara's mind. The recognition was clear as the waterbender's jaw popped off its hinges. Her eyes sparked and flashed, and she could barely speak, for fear of having her words get cut off by her own excitement. "I…get one? I get to WEAR one?" Both her and Pie wore matching expressions.

"Of course. I came by earlier this morning and dropped it off in the top drawer." An uncharacteristic giggle snagged in the water tribe girl's throat, and she was by the dresser in three seconds, tearing the drawer out and retrieving the tiny square of fabric. Before her glee could develop any further, Pie said as an afterthought: "You were moving about a lot, almost like something was chasing you. Some dream, eh?"

"Yes, crazy dream," Katara's sugary voice provided, even though there was a thin haze of preoccupation over it. Shaking off her dark thoughts, the Southern Tribe teen rubbed her fingers against the cloth, practically drinking it in.

"It's made of a fine muslin," Pie's voice was faint, white noise, subliminally telling Katara all she wanted to know as she was absorbed in the fabric. "The seamstresses were somehow able to hand stitch every inch of every dress, using multicolor threads to achieve the rainbow affect." Katara held it from the top, letting the garb unfold itself. The material brushed against her thighs, and she bit against her lower lip again, though this time in order to stifle laughter. "In Festival terms, we women are to wear these variable dresses to show the spontaneity of life, of nature, of emotions, while our men wear simple white cotton to represent purity and a clean slate."

"When do I get to wear it?"

"Whenever. All day if you wanted."

"How about now?" Katara pressed the bodice against her chest, and twirled about to get a taste of what was to come. Pie rested her hands on her stomach once more.

"Now, I would recommend a shower, then you can put it on, and if you would like I can help you with your hair." After placing the clothing down with painstaking care, the waterbender grabbed Pie's hands tightly, forcing a few "thank-you"s at the woman, and then allowed herself to be led to a shower. It would be her first true bathing in a week, and Katara could barely contain herself.

Perhaps the entire process of cleansing herself of dirt and grime, donning her clothing, and fixing her hair had taken about two hours. At the end, Pie stepped backwards from her work, wiping her hands off on her skirts. "There."

_This isn't me_, a stunned waterbender twisted about in front of a mirror, trying to capture her image in all directions and vantage points. Her brunette hair was unbraided and brushed out long, so it murmured against her lower back. The colors in her dress complemented her cerulean eyes, striking them with internal light, and deepened the tan in her skin. There was even a borderline theatrical change in her contours, making her look slimmer and ethereal. Even though it was traditional for women to be unadorned jewelry-wise, Pie found it in her heart to accept Katara's very special necklace.

_Stop looking, that isn't you._

True, Katara felt… glamorous, gorgeous, elegant, but she couldn't help but wonder if she was still trapped inside her nightmare, and that beast was about to burst from the floorboards. In her whole life experiences, all this water bender was accustomed to were her mukluks, mittens, trousers, her anarak, her blue tunic and skirt; nothing as delicate as what breezed across her hips and thighs. It was almost too much.

But still her lips were quirked into a bemused grin.

_What's Aang going to say?_

The words had already zipped through her mind before she could hinder their presence, and for that Katara slapped herself. Pie, though a gossamer of worry glided over her features, maintained an easy air. "Good?" she inquired. The waterbender could divine both sides of the statement: Are you happy with your appearance? Is something the matter?

"Very much so," she said, before bombarding the woman with a hug.

_What will he say?_

_Nothing, he won't notice. Toph's going to be wearing the exact same outfit._

_He won't even see you, should she be there._ There was a slight pressure leaning against Katara's skull, but she dismissed it with her own fantasies of the night to come.

- - - - -- - - - -- - - - -

After Pie had gone to such trouble as to make a little dandelion like herself into a Forget-Me-Not, Katara felt obliged to assist in setting up the Festival. The majority had miraculously been erected during the night ("The Wallflower Witch, I suspect," Bai Ping stated thoughtfully, crawling at a forty-five degree angle under the weight of a box of decorations), but still the shops had to be set up and the shops were devoid of the flowers that they were intending to sell.

The pair of them, Katara and Pie, were busy clipping a set of rouge carnations, during which they chattered gaily, ignorant to the war raging around this little oasis, of the blood shed, and still they cast about their words so lightly. This place was simply perfect, so pure and untouchable, how could one possibly fathom such a depressing topic within the walls?

But regardless of the grim reality of the world, the two passed a half of an hour swapping stories (Katara learned the woman's name to actually be Lin Tal, though she would always resemble a "Pie" to the waterbender.), and then Pie finished out Bai Ping's explanation of the floral symbolism.

"Okay, so light red means admiration. When someone gives you this they are basically asking you to develop a relationship with them." Then Pie removed a single carnation from the vermilion mass they had compiled. "Darker red is for a more deeper love and affection, like old couples or married couples or even just long relationships." She placed the blossom back unto their stack. "Then there're white carnations. They represent pure love and good luck, and are normally swapped between new couples or new marriages.

"The striped ones are basically tokens of regret: regret that a love cannot be shared, recognizing that your lover has found a new interest, patching up after a break-up, or whatever. That one is personally my favorite, I hate to say," Pie grinned distantly. "It just makes dismissal so much less painful…. But-ah- I'm sure Mayor Bai Ping explained the yellow flowers to you, how they're for citizens who don't fall under any categories, and can just be given between friends and family."

It was almost tangible, the scheme forming behind Katara's eyes. _This could be my last chance. And I mean, I know what the worst that can happen is. And I know that it's probably going to happen. But if I never confess, I don't know if I can continue traveling with them…._

"Hey, where is the stand for the light red carnations?"

- - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - -

The sun dipped across the walls, scooping low, trying to skim the terrain. As soon as both heavens and earth embraced, streaks of fuchsia, tangerine, and saffron inked across the sky above the Midorians and Avatar crew. Surprisingly, Katara hadn't once met up with her brother, Toph, or Aang at all that day, and this suited her nicely. But, while her and Pie were carting the last crate of flowers into the town square, Katara's voice rung with a familiar sound.

"Katara!" Were she not supporting the same box as Pie, the waterbender would have whirled around. But as she was, she had to apologize to her companion, and force the rest of the burden upon the kind woman, before turning to Aang and Sokka. Her breath hitched at the sight of the Avatar in his white cotton garb, his grey eyes and pale skin becoming almost otherworldly in the little contrast, and the tattoos enflaming in vibrancy. Sokka, on the other hand, looked like a slab of obsidian dusted with a few inches of snow. Enchanted, almost intoxicated smiles were plastered about their faces as the three approached one another.

"Magical, isn't it?" The Avatar propelled himself a few feet into the air, and then landed on Katara's right. Her stomach did a flip as he appeared so near to her, and she forced herself to nod at him.

"Yeah," she said, her voice slow. "Tonight's going to be very… _nice_." _I hope_.

"Nice? Nice? Of course it is! Have you even **seen** the spread they're making for dinner?" Sokka threw his arms about in boisterous explanation. A few passing Midorian girls chuckled behind their hands, and flashed coy looks to the water warrior, whom must have appeared very exotic to them. _Exotic, erratic, who's counting?_

"No, what are they making?" Katara asked, rupturing Sokka's thoughts….

"Oh…oh! Wild boar, leechi nuts, meats, cabbage, potatoes, yams, carrots, asparagus, stew, breads, meats, nuts, fish, did I mention meat? Oh! AND there's going to be beer!" The vegetarian monk cringed at the constant referral to carnivorous habits, while Katara grew apprehensive over the mention of alcohol. But the warrior, oblivious, drooled quietly by himself as the other two continued on their conversation.

"So, Katara," Aang said, "what have you been doing all today?"

"Um, well, the woman who came to wake me up helped me to get dressed, and then I basically just helped out with setting up until now."

"Whoever she is, she did a great job."

Katara froze. Her ears heated, and she could almost feel the warmth seeping from them. "Th-thanks, Aang. You l-look really n-n-nice too."

"Aren't these great?" He grabbed a fistful of his shirt and pulled it taut. "It _breathes!_ Airbending is…well, a breeze in them!" That boyish smile dominated again, illuminating his features in a way that made Katara feel like she was about to go insane. "Oh, and did you see Appa?"

"N-n-no."

"Oh man! They braided _flowers_ in his mane. Can you believe it? I watched them put them in, and boy did Appa put up a fuss for a while…." The boy hero continued gossiping like that for some time, Katara absorbing every word put out. Then her euphoria was snapped when a shout issued from the now drool-soaked Sokka.

The pair turned about to face him, only to find that Momo had manifested out of nowhere and flew straight into Sokka's face. At this, the monk and his waterbending teacher laughed openly, and Katara truly felt that she could be struck by lightning right then and die happy. At least, those were her thoughts, until….

"Hey, Katara?"

"Hmm?"

"The festival's about to start, and I haven't seen Toph all day, do you know where she is?" It seemed like Katara's light feelings shattered at that moment, shards piercing her heart.

"No, I haven't," she spat icily, and stalked off, leaving the two boys to flash each other questioning glances.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The Festival of Carnations was initiated with some words from Bai Ping (half of which were unintelligible, due mainly to the great distance Katara was from the small man), and then a troupe of women floated up onto the stage. They all wore uniforms of silken dresses, with different layers to their skirts. As the drums began their jarring rhythm, soon accompanied by tumbling guitar notes, the women wove between each other, twisting and moving in intricate patterns, their skirts flaring out in shapes that greatly reminded the waterbender of the carnations themselves.

From the moment that the first exhibition ended, Katara waded through the crowds with a clear purpose: to find the stand that sold the light red flowers. Pie had already shown her which one it was, and Bai Ping had provided each of them with a considerable sum of money, which jangled noisily against her hip.

Along the way, she passed a plethora of different shops: food, clothes, masks, flowers, and even some eclectic ones that sold such trinkets as porcelain wind chimes. Elaborate fragrances teased her nose, and she suddenly realized that she had worked straight through lunch with Pie, but her mission was important enough to subdue her stomach.

(Okay, so she made **one** stop and bought a pita, but then it was straight to her objective.)

After getting hopelessly lost three times in the sea of faces and stopping to get directions from a clothing vendor, and in doing so having to deflect his many sales pitches, the teenager was able to purchase her flower. Clutching it like it was the solution to ending the war, Katara wove once again through the crowds.

Duck, dodge, swerve, it was amazing that she was still in one piece. But all of her struggles led her to wonder: how was she to find Aang?

First she swam into the dancing exhibition crowd, but there was no Avatar. She stole herself a moment to watch the dancers weave a tribute to Avatar Midori in their animated gesticulations and movements, but then plunged once again into the mob. It was only after another excruciating ten minutes of nothing before she found her goal, by a dress stand, no less. Katara stood near the outskirts of the crowd, clutching the flower tightly to her chest, a cold sweat creeping along the back of her neck.

_Now or never._

_Do it, Katara. He's right there. It's easy. Walk up, and hold it out. _

_Say something, DO something. Stop standing there for god's sake!_

She sucked in a musty breath of air, much like the one she suffered under in the labyrinth, only this time she wasn't choked over it. _In, out, in, out. Breathe. Just breathe. You've been through so much, facing the prince of the Fire Nation in hand-to-hand combat for one, and you're terrified of one little Air Nomad?_

_Go. Now._

One bare foot slid forward in the dust. Could her quaking knees hold her weight?

Another step. Did he know she was coming?

More steps. She was there, his back facing her.

_Now or never._

"There you are!" She gave a visible start, stumbling to find the right words, only to find that her efforts were unnecessary. "Toph…." The Avatar's voice grew silky as the earthbender sauntered into view, her own hair splashing down her back, and-amazingly- in a Midorian dress. "You look… amazing." The two stood there before each other, both with infatuation stamped across their faces. Each brandished light red carnations.

"Thanks, Aang," Toph smiled sweetly, "I know you look good."

Hate clouded Katara's heart, blinded her, deafened her, muted her. The festival around her silenced, the wonderful images imploding. She could no longer hear what the monk and his teacher were saying. All she could see was their mouths moving.

Aang extended his declaration of admiration, and she returned the favor.

A flood stung at Katara's eyes, her own element betraying her, mussing up her vision.

They were leaning in.

_No, NO! Stop, please!_

Aang snaked a hand around Toph's waist.

She couldn't take this anymore. _Stop it!_ If this continued, she was going to lose it.

Their faces were close. They were smiling.

Katara's face contorted with torture.

They closed the gap.

And then her heart broke, smashed into thousands of pieces, scattering like the carnation petals about her feet. _No…._ She cast the stem of the carnation away like it burned to the touch, and she dove back into the knot of laughing, celebrating people, all undiscerning of the lone girl racing through them, bumping, falling, lifting herself up again, her face streaked with tears and dirt, her mouth a crooked black hole through which voiceless screams ripped out.

_You knew this was going to happen._

How long had she been running?

_This was a wasted venture from the start._

Where was she?

_You should have never kidded yourself into thinking that he could possibly choose you over Toph._

There, freedom.

_Fool._

The waterbender emerged from the people, sobs wracking her body. Her escape continued past her brother, who was flanked by the girls from earlier. "Katara? Katara!" he said, snatching at her and then following after. But she lost him. Only his retreating bellows were clear.

_He can't help you. No one can._

_You're alone._

By now, Katara was dead to her surroundings, and yet she was still able to push her numbed legs ever forward, something like her dream voice urging her on: "Run, run, get away. Faster."

_Hmm, maybe you should have just bought a striped flower and not even bothered with your stupid hopes._

And then she was beyond the festival limits, into an outbreak of forest on the north side of the city. Her brain had receded into itself, and her body was on autopilot.

Fold over, get smaller, move in, fold over. Her heart started its self-preservation.

Get smaller, fold over.

Be invisible.

Be hidden.

_He doesn't love you._

Tears blatantly streamed down her cheeks, stinging.

_Get that through your head:_

_**He**_

_**Doesn't**_

_**Love**_

_**You.**_

**Heh…I warned you… looong. Well, I hope you guys made it here, and want to remind you that I am a review whore ((sigh)), so if you'll review I always try to review your stories. I mean, I might not get to them right away, but sooner or later I will. thanks again for reading!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Ugugugugugh. Hm, I'm not to partial to this chapter either…. I blame the Grapes of Wrath! I dunno tho, this one just didn't end up like I'd hope it would, so It's probably gonna undergo loooottts of editing. O, and sorry for how long it took to get it out, things have been….stressful, over here. And it's only gonna take me longer to get new chapters done, since school's starting soon.**

**So I hope this will make up for the wait ((prays))**

**Disclaimer: if I owned avatar, you'd know. First of all, I'd get the first animators/artists to redo this second season of it, cuz the artwork kinda scares me. and, of course, Zutara moments would fill all episodes! Mwahahaha!**

**Hey! I just re-read it, and it's not that bad! ((happy))**

All was left behind Katara: celebration, lights, warmth, Sokka, and gaiety, all crushed unceremoniously under her now raw and bleeding feet. Anything remotely sharp grazed her skin with every step taken, but no longer did the water tribe girl care. Her hands enclosed tightly on the place over her heart, and she struggled to keep her momentum going. Contained within this tiny area of her anatomy was the only aspect of that night that she forced herself to carry with her: Toph and Aang, conjoined by the lips, moving to deepen that nauseatingly passionate moment. At times she actually welcomed the escalating pain in her soles, for the insistent jolts would momentarily help her regain her grip on reality, momentarily.

But after she ripped her limbs from the assaulters, her mind would slip back under into detachment; her muscles and joints were propelling her ever deeper into the intertwining foliage. If it was a possibility for a human being to be dangerously hollow, to cock one's head to the side and receive the feeling that it might float away, and yet to have your skin, bones, train of thought be caked with an unorthodox amount of gravity, then this waterbender was suffering from it. Staggering drastically, she fought to keep herself on some semblance of a path, but a path to where, and for what purpose?

_You outran your brother,_ a malicious voice cooed in her ears, _but how do you expect to leave reality behind you?_

Something below her ribs throbbed irregularly, often throwing off the tempo for a beat, then regaining lost ground by thrashing against her chest.

_Where exactly are you going, anyway?_

Away.

_Away? Away from what?_

Everything.

A chortle, more like a bark, rattled her skull. _Good luck._

The waterbender was sent prostrated against the hard-packed earth. It was probable that she would sport more abrasions because of this, but Katara simply rolled herself to her back. Directly above her, branches and foliage clawed desperately at each other, and heavyset storm clouds puttered into view beyond the trees. "That's cruel," she coughed, blood speckling her lips. "Beaten, broken, and still I'm not allowed my element."

With this, the Katara-shell managed to raise herself back to her standing position, though an onlooker would have concluded her to be a newly born zombie due to her languid movement. The first drops of rain must have let loose from their swollen sires, for the entire forest started clattering under the contact of the raindrops.

'_Maybe I should make it hail on the village,' _Katara contemplated, carmine rivulets snaking down her front. '_No,'_ she shook her head gently, too afraid it might fly off her neck, '_Aang would….'_ Everything about her froze. Nothing made a noise, and this mute sat atop her brow.

_Run._

Again she resumed her feverish flight, this time closing her eyes to anything that should present itself to her. Naturally, this caused the waterbender to bash into trees quite frequently, and yet more wounds erupted on her cocoa skin. The rain had penetrated through the woven wall of branches, but the contact she felt with her element was less of an embrace, and more of a beating.

A punishment.

_The gods must think you too much of an imbecile for this world._

Water mixed with salt mixed with blood as Katara's eyes issued all of her clogged emotions in one swift release. Whether her dress was plastered to her contours by either the rain or her tears, it was unclear, but this new factor contributed to Katara tripping up even more often. For a while the girl simply carried on in this way: barreling through the unmerciful woods, alone, sobbing, gory, falling on her face, pulling herself up, and continuing this cycle. All the while Katara was ceaselessly playing that ruining moment over and over in her head. That kiss that tore her heart in two, and spat upon it like some unsavory character.

Each time the moment was touched upon, one more of Katara's joints paralyzed. It was soon at the point where her legs were the only things keeping her aloft, for the rest of the girl was bent and crooked. The numb coursed through her thighs. How long could she keep this up? Rain pounded against her head and shoulders, attempting to dig into her skin and scourge what little remained of her psyche.

Her legs gave way, and the waterbender went sprawling into the tangled grasses before her. Drained, she allowed her body to collapse fully into the ground, ignoring the twigs that punctured any unbroken skin.

'_Good. Good. Rest.'_ Her mind gave the plunge into nothingness.

"My, what is a pretty girl doing all alone in the woods?" This voice snapped something in the waterbender, but in a good way. Those perpetual rivers spilling from her tear ducts dammed up, and she could feel a warmth course through her body, invigorating her, restoring her nerve endings. "Why, with such a commotion going on down at the village, shouldn't you be down there?"

Katara crawled to all fours, resting on her knees and elbows. "I don't belong there," she mumbled.

"No?" That voice again, rustling against the grass. "Why don't you belong there?"

"…Because," a choked laugh scraped against the blood in Katara's throat. She wondered for a moment how to finish out her response, the festival seemed fleeting in her memory. "I went out on a limb, and ended up plummeting to the ground." Shifting to her knees, Katara straightened out her torso, but her head still hung deeply.

"How so?" The ground to her right depressed under the weight of the voice.

"Let's just say that I like this guy, but he has someone else," Katara lamented. The veracity of this statement sealed her eyes with saltwater, and, to prevent the internal ocean from overflowing, the waterbender tilted her head to the side. "I guess you could say he was my first- -"

The worldly din silenced.

"Love?" Raven black hair poured over alabaster skin. The woman returning Katara's gaze was hunched over her form, serenity smoothing out her crow's feet into shallow grooves. Following the direction of the wrinkles, Katara's survey slipped into two golden coins, flat and static, yet somehow aqueous enough to drag the girl in. Her jaw drooped lower and lower, farther and farther from her skull. Those honey eyes greedily drank in the background colors, swelling with the pilfered hues until the entire space behind her seemed to fall in upon itself.

And then, as if in a testament to the detestability of this pigment genocide, the remaining features on the woman's face migrated southwest, drifting down her ivory skin until they seceded completely from her countenance, hanging loosely in space before Katara's disbelieving eyes.

Something was building up in Katara's throat; something like a scream, but tasting a bit like her own blood. "Uh- -"

That did it: those brilliant golden orbs of hers blanched out completely, until Katara felt that she was staring into the light that led one to the Other Side. She felt her heartbeat quicken, and the abrasions on her body tingled.

_Look away!_

She ripped her gaze from the milky pools, and instead stared at the dirt in front of the woman's knees. "Y-yes," she said, feeling as if the answer was taken from her forcefully. "It _was_ love." She made a point to stress that it was then, not now. Now, she didn't want to love, didn't want to hurt.

"But not anymore."

"…No."

The grass wavered and quavered under the influence of a new noise…or noises. It made Katara turn her head again, only this time she was cautious of where she looked. Figuring that the woman's lips might be the safest bet, Katara flashed her gaze there, and discovered the strange sounds to be issuing from her lips. This revelation permitted the waterbender's mind to sift through that clamor, extracting each layer, until she was left with a pile of three. Three levels of the woman's laughter, ringing out as separate entities: amusement, disdain, and sorrow. Katara was mesmerized.

"Ah, yes," the woman's lips said. "Attraction is so easily created, and so gruesome when destroyed. It feels like you're full of rocks, yes?" Katara managed a nod, entranced by her words. "But, you know, I believe that, in any relationship," there was a pause, and the waterbender could feel the disarming heat of the woman's gaze on her head, "pain is unavoidable."

"Wha?" The shock of the declaration caused Katara to snap her head up, so that she could behold the speaker. Their eyes locked, cerulean dilating under the fierce gold-now pearl. _LOOK DOWN!_

"Pain is unavoidable," she repeated. "It is simply the degree of the suffering that proves a relationship's caliber. Say, too much controversy: that eventually leads to a fall-out, naturally. But too little pain, well, that is simply an unrealistic idea. Certainly there are cases in which a couple is smooth sailing forever. But then, without trials and tribulations to allow each to test the boundaries, who knows how much strain such an unbelievable union can take."

"But," Katara fiddled with the end of her muslin dress, brow knitted, "love isn't supposed to be difficult or painful. When you find someone that's right for you, you shouldn't need to "test the boundaries"; just lean against each other equally and then your affection will do the rest. That's what love is."

"In a fairy tale, yes. But this isn't a land of dwarves and pixies. This is a world of harsh truth and grim rules. That nursery rhyme is long since exhausted. In this day and age, one grows, one develops, primarily at the hand of struggle and pain. This transcends all aspects of human life; your little sugar theory has also been through the gauntlet." Each of her chastisements pounded into Katara's bones, bowing her torso with a roguish force.

"But true love…" she muttered meekly.

"'True love'. 'True love' was also sculpted from fire, water, wind, and earth in turn. Nowadays, 'true love' barely ever makes it past a good raping or a blackmail-induced-marriage, or perhaps slavery." The diatribe stopped, and Katara could hear ragged breathing. Time elapsed in complete silence, the waterbender still breaking under the woman's ardent admonitions. "But," the witch began again, this time in a soft tone, "I am not trying to dissuade you from believing in love, let alone seeking it. True love, though it is becoming a scarce commodity, does still exist. However, due mainly to this bloody era we are all unfortunate enough to live in, the type of love you are speaking of can only be maintained through sacrifice and controversy. Once the two of you have endured these tests, together or separate, it is only then that you can appreciate such a lasting bond. You must first know hate, must first know agony, before you can begin to fathom such a sweet ambrosia. It's harsh. That's life."

"…So then I guess Aang must be _crazy_ about me," Katara spat out, irony lacing the words.

"Aang? This Aang is the one who 'has someone else'?" The woman acted ignorant to the waterbender's sarcasm. "Actually, in your case, there apparently was no connection to begin with, so no, there is no love." Pain enflamed in Katara's veins, singing through her bloodstream and shredding her up from the inside. Great boulder tears tumbled down Katara's nose and made craters in the dirt. Biting her lip, she drove her knuckles into the ground. This action sobered the woman up.

_I am a waterbending master,_ Katara thought, _I don't cry!_

"I am sorry," the Wallflower Witch said after some time. "I didn't mean to go so far. Forgive me my passionate hate as well. I was an unfortunate victim of this world's version of 'true love'."

"Is it all so hopeless?" Katara twisted her knuckles in the dirt. "Is there any point in trying to love someone, if all you have to look forward to is heartache?"

There was a pensive pause to their conversation, as the woman thought up an answer to Katara's borderline-hypothetical inquiry. Meanwhile, the waterbender was steeling herself away for whatever reply was coming; her tear flow had stemmed. "Do you want to find love? Mind you, there will be pain, but I trust you to understand that by now. And the pain does end once a love can be successfully established. So, do you still want it?"

Katara rested her forehead against the now moist ground, unsure of everything. "…Yes," she said finally, not permitting herself to mull over the words she was uttering, "but it's impossible. I've been all over the world, and no one outranks Aang. Impossible…."

"Hmm," the ground next to her compressed lightly, and Katara then noticed that the woman had scooted over next to her. "Actually, it's very possible." Her voice was reduced to a whisper. "I could actually help you there."

"…Y-you could?" The waterbender hauled her head off of the dirt, and she brushed the remnants off of her forehead with the back of her hand.

She felt, rather than saw, the woman's smile. "Yes." An unholy lightning ran Katara clean through, electrifying her nerves and senses, and she sprung forward, only to land roughly onto more rocks and sticks. Yet more searing torture dominated her being, tearing at her hair, pulling her skin taut, reopening her lacerations. Burning tears surged over her face, and strangled cries exploded from her lungs. "What. The. Hell. Are. You. Doing. To. Me!" She screamed each word as she writhed against the stabbing sticks and bruising rocks.

"Helping you." It was nearly impossible for Katara to comprehend the woman's words, but a sudden lull in the torment gave her mind enough processing time. Then her shrieks reinitiated, with a staggering force. "This spell," it was necessary for the woman to shout now, so that she could be heard over Katara's anguish, "will help you find your 'true love', so you can prove me wrong."

"How the hell am I supposed to break this spell, damn it?" Arching her back in her affliction, Katara's hands moved about wildly, straining for water to aid her in destroying something: herself, or her tormenter. Groundwater shot out of pores in the dirt, and suddenly the air around the contorted waterbender and the woman was filled with millions of ice needles, all poised to strike. As if this was enough of a threat, the agony that had claimed Katara receded all at once, and she was left panting in the grass; a shower of needles clattered against the ground. After a few soothing gulps of air, Katara flung a furious glare at the woman, who held her chin between her pointer finger and thumb in thought.

"Well," she began. Her body seemed to flicker then, almost as if she were falling, but then she was twenty meters further from Katara, and the process repeated. "I suppose." Lilting laughter shadowed the words, and her voice scattered easily. "I suppose that death is always a release." And then the woman, the Wallflower Witch, melted into her own wall of darkness.

"Come back here, damn you!" Katara screeched, scrambling to her feet, only to collapse under her own weight. "What the hell did you do to me!"

'_Hurry now_,' a voice whispered urgently in her…heart? '_Your friends are in trouble.'_

All traces of that sadistic little gap in the wilderness were forgotten, albeit reluctantly, as Katara dashed away in a blind effort to aid her companions. The environment around her was simplified into mere suggestions of form, dashes of color, snatches of din. More distance was covered in a suspiciously short time.

_What happened to me?_ Fear flooded Katara's mind, numbing her body in flashes. Again she could feel those treacherous sobs threaten her eyes, but she transferred this action into one guttural wail. _What is happening!_ Everything was pulverized beneath her feet, and now even those mutilating branches littering her path seemed much more docile than they were before.

'_Hurry now,' _the voice continued, preventing Katara's limbs from stopping their mad workings. '_Your friends are in terrible danger.'_

_Why the hell should I listen you?_ Katara bared her teeth, almost as if she had fangs with which to appear menacing. _You're that witch, right? Tell me what this 'spell' is doing to me!_

'_No time. Move faster.'_

_WAIT! _But the witch's presence was gone, leaving the boiling waterbender to her sprinting. An archway zipped over Katara's head; she noticed it merely because it signaled the dramatic end to the suffocating foliage. As soon she crossed under the thing, Katara's limbs ceased moving as one unit, and she was sent tumbling into the ground. Groaning, the waterbender propped a scraped chin flat onto the rocks and dirt, so that she could view the village.

Since she was expecting dubious looks from drunken partygoers, Katara was stricken by what instead she observed:

Smoke. Thick, onyx, serpentine smoke coiled upwards from establishments, all of them devoured by one massive holocaust of flame. Screams carried through the area with the same dint of a hurricane. The Midorians were in a full-fledged panic, dashing about pointlessly, first this way, then doubling back once their path was barred by scorching flames. Each citizen maintained the same expression: bulging eyes, gaping mouths, and thick lines creasing every face, children included, so that the whole city's inhabitants made up one uniform victim, one uniform reaction.

Columns of fire erupted randomly, sometimes directly on a fleeing bystander, sometimes an unoccupied area, and sometimes blasting a house to bits in its birth. Above the symphony of distress, Katara could distinguish the sickening sounds of mirth.

_Fire benders!_

Sure enough, soldiers traipsed all around the city, flicking flames casually from their wrists, their skeleton masks dancing in the twisted illumination. Dragging herself to her feet, Katara attempted to waterbend, but to no avail, for her waterskin was nowhere in sight, and the entire city was ablaze. Crying out in frustration, the waterbender sufficed to simply ramming into Fire Nation soldiers she encountered, pleased at the surprised gasp that rattled out of their masks. After tumbling ten soldiers, Katara froze in her tracks.

"Avatar!" The voice was annoyingly familiar, and her stomach dropped. Whirling around, Katara found herself to be the newest witness to a battle, one that was growing old with each time it raged. She dove out of the way in time for Aang to come crashing into the ground, his kite-flier ((no idea what to call it)) crackling and sizzling under a blossom of fire. The monk threw the device from him, and pushed enough air before him to deflect a ball of pure heat.

Katara's throat muscles tightened, and she lifted her gaze from her comrade, letting it come to rest on Aang's attacker.

Zuko, banished prince of the Fire Nation, hand painted with swirling fire.

**There you go. Again, sorry if it isn't _that_ good, but it's amazing that I finished it ((the frikkin schools decided to issue me three 600 page books and one 700 page book to read over the summer …. Thaaaaanx public school system))**

**I'll try to write more, but it might take a while, so be patient.**

**And as always, REVIEW PULEASE! It will boost my ego and make me feel like this chapter wasn't a useless waste of space! **

**Good news: 2 more weeks til my Sweet 16, Woo!**

**Love always,**

**Arisu's smile**


	5. Chapter 5

**((Arisu's Smile: omigod…I-I'm alive (holds hands to face and examines). Okay, this is a short chapter, but, hey, it feels like I've just emerged from a mountain of schoolwork. I actually finished this chapter up in my study hall. But, again, sorry for the wait and if I never replied to people's reviews ((I meant to, but it got to be so much later that I forgot who I hadn't replied to…..))**

**Oh, so, saw the hour long Avatar. THIS close to a Zutara moment. THIS CLOSE. When she was touching his face, I was rocking back and forth on my couch like "kiss him, kiss him!"**

**Anyway, thanks to all of you loverly people who took the time to read any of this or come back to my story and continue it on: Zuzu Fangirl, Dark Predator Dragon, Alchemist Astrid, whennerdscollide, upperrightcorneroftheleft ((damn, that's a long name)), Princess of Thieves, Luna-Chan-Kuroi Neko, zuko so fine ((indeed)), Jimmy The Gothic Egg, Moonwaterpetal, Kiorru-dono. Um, If I forgot anyone, then by all means, paint me blue, rip out my heart, decapitate me, then roll my body down the steps of your ziggurat ((guess who saw Apocalypto?))**

Remember, people who don't review run a better risk of ending up on _Cops_ in their underwear than those who do

Disclaimer: I OWN THIS SHOW! Hahahahahaha- - is struck down by lightning))

Wave after wave of flames broke over the Avatar's wind shields. Flecks of the heat scattered in the air, and soon petals of it twisted downwards in a shower. Katara gulped down as much air as she could find in the atmosphere, trying to soothe her aching throat. Should she help Aang? She had neither her waterskin nor her bending abilities under these conditions, and therefore would have to rely on her throbbing legs and arms to fight with. Those limbs, lacerated and gored beyond most functions, could they withstand such an awesome quest?

On the other hand, the Avatar was being beaten into the dirt by the banished prince's feral onslaught.

Forcing more searing air into her lungs, Katara took a shaky step forward. Her sudden fatigue frightened her. Perhaps the waterbender's powers had simply evaporated in the blaze; or maybe it was because of whom she was about to save. Somewhere in her mind, a small voice was scratching at her, reminding her of the events that had recently transpired in the festival, the ones that had driven her torture. Did she honestly want to go to the trouble to help him, when he would just thank her and then flutter back to his precious Toph?

_'Toph...I wonder where she is...'_ A particularly nasty curtain of flame sliced across the ground towards Aang. The monk, his eyes dulling and lips ripped open with ragged breathing, wiped his arms roughly against the attack, parting it to either side of him. A weary smirk unfolded over his lips, and yet this only increased the dread in Katara's soul, for she could not recall the Avatar ever being so feeble against any given opponent. And yet there he crouched, arms stretched out meekly before him as a pregnable line of defense.

"Well, Avatar," Katara blinked at the sound, and tore her eyes away from her friend and to the antagonist, who was currently advancing towards Aang. "It seems as if your little struggle is almost over." One of his fists, engulfed in a crimson blossom, extended behind him as he slid his stance wider. Nebulous determination manifested on Aang's face in the form of a shallow grimace, and Katara watched the muscles in his forearms tighten as he tensed his whole being.

_'I have to do something!'_ The words beat like a frantic pulse in Katara's ears, and she forced herself completely onto her feet. _'There's no way Aang can withstand another attack.' _She had to, she just had to move forward, to do anything that would safeguard her companion.

_Then go._

As the prince's fist began its devastating arc towards its prey, the waterbender's feet shredded the ground, and she gave a mighty leap. In her flight, a bellow of pure choler exploded from her lungs and rained over every person in the village; all turned, aghast, and watched as she collided right into the firebender's shoulder.

The pair tumbled across the scorched grounds, Katara atop Zuko. A blistering agony enflamed her shoulder where she had taken the brunt of the firebender's attack in order to redirect it from Aang. "Damn!" Zuko boomed as he thrashed beneath her. Every twitch or movement from him sent shocks of pain through her shoulder, but she was not about to relinquish this advantage she had over him. Biting her lip against the pain, Katara smothered the firebender with her body, focusing her weight distribution over his shoulders and thighs.

Being presented with this new development only fueled Zuko's writhing. The effects of both her shoulder wound and the lack of a decent amount of oxygen circulating in the thick air cracked the waterbender's vision. Whimpering against these hindrances, Katara flattened herself as completely as she could over him.

_'I just need to hold out long enough for Aang to-'_

And then she was thrown in the air, a cloud of flame embracing her torso, only to fall unceremoniously onto her back. Moving hurt. Breathing hurt. Living hurt. She groaned against the blinding pain, her head lolling across the dirt. Without observing the damages to her stomach, Katara craned her head to the side, trying to gather her bearings; her nerve endings screamed at this action, and she grimaced.

Aang was straightening himself up, an infuriated expression thundering through his eyes; however, his wrath was not of enough strength to stimulate his Avatar State. Through her bruised ears the waterbender could hear the crackle and roar of an inferno reinitiated as the firebenders resumed their workings.

"Filthy savage," the prince hissed.

'_Peasant to savage,'_ she couldn't restrain the wry grin tugging at her lips, _'now that's an accomplishment.'_

"Guards, I want you to-" The air was split once more with a war cry, although this one resonated from the Avatar. Katara saw Aang strike his heel across the prince's jaw, and then her view was obscured as three cadaverous Fire Nation soldiers threw themselves unto her- or, more to the point, on the continental scorch mark on her stomach. Somehow they must have predicted their prince's need of restraining her.

Howling in pain, Katara kicked and bucked against their weight, but found that this only increased the level of her suffering. Now she could only wait for the clamor of the nearby scuffle to sift through her disjointed thoughts. And it did, eventually, once she was able to separate the voices of the Avatar and the Banished Prince from the apprehensive grunts of the soldiers above her. It was unclear who was predator and who was prey at what time during their brawl, and all Katara could do was fervently pray for Aang between flashes of agony.

Minutes inched by, the passage of time marked only by her muffled heartbeat and the arbitrary twitching and shifting of the firebenders atop her. The heat from her wounds had dulled to a lethargic throb, but all of her nerve endings were shot. Vaguely did she wonder how her companion was faring; most of her focus and will-power were directed towards her eyelids: stay up, open, don't close_. 'I don't want to sleep,'_ she thought, noting how rubbery her limbs felt, _'I don't want to go back to the dark place. That monster from my nightmare might actually eat me up this time... I can't move...' _Her sight split and scattered then, her whole scope of vision waning and hazing.

With one last shred of consciousness, she made an attempt to stay focused by twisting her torso, but even the screaming pain couldn't reach her then, for the monster's claws were deep in her mind.

((turns on fog machine)) (oh, and I realize that this dream sequence makes no sense, but, honestly, dreams don't always make sense. Think symbolism hinthint)

_'Dear child, the lightning blossoms are swiftly wilting. Do us a favor and open your eyes.' _

She acquiesced, her eyelids dragging open against some force. Blinding white scraped against her whole being, but she knew her eyes not to be taking in the world, for its landscape was flat and static.

'Hands,' purred a voice, close to her, inside her head.

'Part,' she responded, and a sudden brilliance dominated the world. Every pallid inch of it reared upwards in intensity, save for an ashy silhouette before her. Those hands belonged to the outline, and they dropped to its side.

'Did you bring it?' the silhouette questioned, and she looked about her. The atmosphere was composed of slashes of life and existence, each its own color, but all meshing into white.

'Did I bring it?'

'Beloved Echo, we haven't the time.' Although its form was invisible, she witnessed the figure turn sideways as if checking over its shoulder. 'Did you bring the Worldlyworth?'  
'No,' she whispered, 'I didn't.'

'But you must have,' the figure insisted, 'they said you would, they said you were made of it.' At this, she felt something enclosing her hand, and a quick glance towards it showed her wrist to be tapering off into a snowy nothingness.

'I'm made of nothing, at least not enough.'

'Enough. Enough. You say now you have it? Brilliant.' She was jerked forward, and nearly fell to the ground. 'Careful, down is endless, but forward is near. Move your feet and reach the now. And quickly while you're at it.' Again she obeyed the pearlescent entity, and found the journey to be easily accomplished. 'Look, look. It's nearly dawn.' Before them, jutting upward from the empty world, was a gnarled tree, barren of leaves. Within the bark crawled vibrant colors that swirled and pulsed individually, and branches stuck out of every inch of it, and from every direction. Veins spiderwebbed across the trunk, and a moan of anguish creaked out of the branches.

'Dawn,' she murmured in reverence, extending a hand to brush across the tree. The pads of her fingertips dipped low into the pliable bark. A sharp hiss alerted her to her companion, who sucked in a terrified breath. Adrenaline surged through her and she drew her fingertip along the surface, leaving a gash in its wake. With every inch dug her companion would cry out, and with every cry, she felt her insides clench. It was nauseating, this overwhelming feeling of power that she felt as she harmed this tree. Half of her strained away from it, the Silhouette helping this notion by pulling her away, while the rest of her fought to continue on.

'Hurry, hurry,' the Silhouette urged through its sobs, 'Dawn is coming. Light is near.'

And then the end of the gash met the beginning, and she stumbled backwards into the Silhouette, who was wracked with tears and lamentations, stroking her hair in hysterics. 'Dawn,' she whispered, her eyes locked onto her drawing. It was a crude heart, one that was common to a child's doodling. After muttering her prayer a few more times, crimson began to sparkle at the edges of her drawing, then bead, then overflow. A second passed and then the speed of its blood flow quickened, until the entire front was covered in a vertical river. Streaks of midnight sullied it occasionally, but soon all color was drained into white gold.

There was a slight pressure on her shoulder. 'And so the explosion is born infantile,' her companion whispered in her ears. Warmth breath encased her ear and jaw line. 'Now die.' Her body fell limp into its arms, and then she was cleaved in two as she was shoved into the branches...

Her eyes snapped open as a particularly sharp jab of pain electrified her torso. Moaning, she rolled up into a sitting position, despite her wound.

"Prince Zuko," a deep voice resounded, "it's awake." Every inch of the waterbender tensed, her skin crawling. Her chin tipped up slowly in jerks, almost as if it was working on gears.

"Good," the man addressed drawled, "make sure it's tied up tight."

"Yes sir." The banished prince of the Fire Nation was a few steps from her, smirking in an irritating way at her that made her want to pound him into oblivion. Burning fury intoxicated her mind, and she scrambled to her feet and made a jump for him. Shock blossomed on everyone's countenance, save for the prince, whose sneer must have been welded onto that pompous little face of his.

When she was spitting distance from him, something snagged her throat, and she was thrown backwards. Smacking her chest to the ground, Katara yelped in pain, and then began wheezing and sputtering. Sadistic laughter sounded in front of her, and she tilted her head up in time to see that twisted antagonist reveling in her discomfort. Glaring, Katara made another, softer, motion forward, and felt resistance. Attached to her neck was a length of rope tied up to a thick tree. She felt a wave of panic rise, and she struggled against her bindings.

"Stupid beast," Zuko said behind her, all traces of his laughter gone. "I don't see why you wanted to keep such an idiotic thing, Uncle."

_'"Stupid beast"?!'_ thought the waterbender. _'"Idiotic thing"?'_

"Because," came another voice, "I don't think something so beautiful should be dealt with so roughly."

"It's just a filthy mutt," the prince retorted, "We should have killed it back at that shithouse village."

"Nephew!" Iroh snapped. This seemed to sober the prince up a bit, but not much.

"Still, we don't need extra baggage, and this beast's just going to slow us down." Katara jerked her head upwards towards the pair. The elder, Fire Nation General Iroh, was perched atop a rock, swirling a cup of tea in his hands. His eyes found hers, and an enigmatic smile lit his irises.

"It will be no problem to us," the graying firebender remarked, the grin traveling visibly into the crooks of his mouth, "and besides, just think of it as protection against anyone who would do us harm."

"Like there would actually be scum of any worth in the Earth Kingdom," Zuko said.

"Earthbenders are crafty," the old general said simply.

"Well, that's what guards are for, anyway."

"Oh, enough of your whining, Nephew," Iroh chuckled, sipping on his tea with a euphoric flourish, "I like it, and I want to keep it. You wouldn't deprive an old man of his wishes, would you?" There was a pause from the hotheaded prince, and, were Katara not in the situation she was, she would have laughed over the look on Zuko's face.

"Fine," the prince grumbled, before stalking away. Then he added as an afterthought. "I don't even see why you like that thing anyway." "It reminds me of a poem I heard once," said Iroh softly to his nephew's retreating back. The soldiers busied themselves with various tasks, certain now that there wouldn't be any displays of pyrotechnics from their leaders.

_'What was with all of the name calling?'_ Katara wondered. Her eyes widened_. 'I wonder if.'_ Closing her eyes, the waterbender made a swipe across the ground, pulling a thin film of reflective water up. Without looking, she flattened it out and bid it to move up parallel to her face. _Look._

She opened her eyes and gazed into the makeshift mirror, which almost instantly crashed back onto the ground.

_'It loomed over the rest of this twisted realm, silver shavings blanketing teal, leathery skin that was pinched in at the corners, and blank white eyes that stared unceasingly out at the pinpricks of fire. Its lips were pressed thinly across its muzzle.'  
_  
The dream beast, the one in the nightmare she had had while in Midori. It was her. She was it. A wolf fish, terrible and cold, armored in silver scales and wielding ivory fangs.

Not a human.

Not Katara.

Opening her mouth, she let loose a howl worthy of her visage. Iroh, a shaded mask sliding over his features, watched on, downing the last of his tea.

**(( (Gasp) what will out heroin do?!**

**Thanks again for reading, and a special shout out to Princess of Thieves for guessing what Katara became correctly! ((at least, she was the only one who told me her thoughts…..)) I'd give you a cookie, but it's Christmas Time, so here's a pot of Ol' Granny Arisu's famous Frankincense, Mir, and Gold stew. "_I guarantee it'll bless your colon!"_**

**And remember, review, or Bubba'll knock you up!**

**Arisu's smile))**


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